Plymouth Albion took their first win at Silver Leys on Saturday afternoon as they beat Bishop’s Stortford 24-21.
Stortford took a three-point lead thanks to a penalty from Chris Smith despite mountainous pressure from Albion in the 22, but Albion were the first to go over the whitewash through Ramaz Rukhadze following an excellent pick and go, with Tom Putt slotting the conversion.
They were over for a second time in the final 10 minutes of the first half when Archie Hill showed more neat footwork to run over.
More Albion pressure threatened the Stortford 22 early in the second half, but a good break from them saw Chris Smith escape down the wing to score.
A powerful Sam Daly run unlocked the Stortford defence once more a few minutes later, and his subsequent try was converted by Putts to give Albion a slender advantage.
Stortford levelled things up through another excellently-placed kick from Cole, but Putt stepped up late on to slot three points of his own, giving Albion a 21-24 advantage.
A tough late kick was missed by Cole, bringing an end to an amazing encounter from which Albion emerged victorious.
Line-ups:
Bishop’s Stortford:
Toby Hill, Alex Rayment, Henry Peck, Kaizer Kiff, Harry Charter, Harrison Langworthy, Toby Tierney, Will Rogers, Chris Bolton, Dan Cole, Chris Smith, Austin Pope, James Ayrton ©, Josh Stannard, Jake Morris
Replacements: Ryan Jackson, Matt Ramzan, Harry Charter, Connor Lloyd, Nick Hankin
Albion:
Ramaz Rukhadze, Tom Cowan-Dickie, Dan Pullinger, Angus Hodges, Dan Collier, Jake Bond, Torin Clarke, Sam Daly, Jack Oulton ©, Phil Jones, Pita Ratukadreu, Archie Hill, Sonny Hirini, Seta Raumakita, Tom Putt
Replacements: Harry Wilkinson, Jenson Boughton, Brad Howe, Morgan Stone, Craig Duncan
